Jobless in Gloucester County, two others find hope in employment non-profit

DEPTFORD TWP. — At one time, few who knew Derek Williams would have thought he’d now be coherent, let alone have his own house and two cars.

Williams once lived in a next-to-nothing space in Philadelphia, with no car, no driver’s license, and no career prospects. He’d been to prison and had a penchant for drug abuse.

He didn’t have much if any contact with his daughter, whom he describes quite simply as “beautiful.” Speaking of her now brings him to the brink of tears.

But one day, Williams met two men he says cracked open a heavy door for him, then pulled him through to a whole new world on the other side.

Williams is one of many who have found work so far with the help of the Mid-Atlantic States Career and Education Center’s WorkPlus Initiative. Mid-Atlantic is a non-profit offering job readiness training and job placement to the unemployed and those on public assistance.

Not including ex-inmates of Gloucester and Salem County correctional facilities, nearly 1,100 people have found work with the Initiative’s help.

The Initiative works with clients referred by One Stop career centers in Gloucester, Salem and Burlington counties. More than 30 percent of clients have some type of criminal record. But the group works with others as well, including people who have college degrees and simply cannot find jobs.

The program, also fueled by various grants, comes as a collaboration with businesses hiring the WorkPlus clients, along with Plato Learning Systems, Cornell and Rutgers universities Rutgers Cooperative Extension and Pathways Foundation Inc.

Mid-Atlantic celebrated its thousand plus milestone Wednesday with a luncheon, honoring staff, board members and former clients, at Filomena Lakeview caterers, located on Cooper Street.

It’s celebrating an 80 percent job retention rate for those who have found work through the program.

WIlliams was one of four former clients to speak at the luncheon. Almost like one who’s cheated death and laughs out of relief, he had the audience chuckling often.

But his humor came perhaps more from a newfound thrill for life that most don’t know.

“I was mainly getting high,” Williams recalled of his struggle. “My life was unmanageable; it was just frustrating.”

One year in late December, Williams had just left a half-way house, but things were not getting better.

“I was on my way back to prison,” he said. Then he met H. Glen Donelson and Tom Brown, executive director and associate executive director, respectively, for Mid-Atlantic.

Their patience and his perseverance eventually paid off.

Brown recalled visiting the Sunoco gas station for which Williams now works. The station’s general manager, short on workers, was out pumping gas. Brown, Donelson and Williams stood out there with him.

“We asked that general manager, ‘Will you give him one chance?’...And the rest is history,” Brown told the 65 staff, board members and others gathered at the luncheon.

Williams went on to get an apartment, then a house. He found a bond with his daughter, who now has two college degrees.

Not every Mid-Atlantic client has as far to climb as did Williams. But staff and board members take pride in what state officials deem an impressive track record.

New Jersey Department of Labor Deputy Commissioner Richard Constable told attendees such success is especially important at a time unemployment hovers high.

“As we recover from this Great Recession, the unemployment rate is 9.3 percent, and there are 250,000 fewer jobs in New Jersey than there were four years ago,” Constable said.

“Unfortunately, unemployment is more chronic with certain populations and in certain areas. For those previously incarcerated and for those living in urban areas, the unemployment rate is over 15 percent,” he continued.

Constable pointed out that Mid-Atlantic targets the predicament.

“They help people gain the skills they need to get good jobs,” he said. “They assist those previously incarcerated to get their records expunged. They work with clients to get their high school diplomas or GEDs.”

State Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D, 3) offered support as well.

“This success (occurred) because you accept people without judgment,” he said.

Burzichelli also encouraged clients, stressing they won’t see success right away.

“You’re going to hear ‘No’ a lot more than you’re going to hear ‘Yes,’” he warned. “But you only have to hear ‘Yes’ once.”

Donelson, the Mid-Atlantic executive director, said such perseverance — and a good attitude with clients — are key.

“A lot of these people have actually given up on themselves,” Donelson said, “so we try to get their self esteem back up.”

He added that people roughly between the ages of 18 and 60 call frequently asking for help. And Mid-Atlantic staff, he said, have the wherewithal to do just that.

Like many of the group’s staffers, he worked for years in human resources. Donelson spent a lengthy career with DuPont, and Brown with PSE&G.

“We bring our background, and when we talk to our staff, we say ‘You have to have a passion for working with people. You have to look them in the eye and know that they are your equals,’” Donelson said.

In any case, businesses considering a Mid-Atlantic client must be willing to take the chance. Chas Bogardus, service manager for Budd’s Pools in Deptford Township, represented one of several such businesses at Wednesday’s event.

He said his outfit currently employs three WorkPlus clients, and things are working out well. But their attitude must be the same as that of any other employee.

“I don’t want to hire people who feel they have to work,” Bogardus explained. “I want to hire people who want to work.”

“I can teach anybody anything about swimming pools, but I can’t teach them the will to work.”

The WorkPlus hires at Budd’s do show that will, Bogardus said, and past mistakes don’t have to be an issue.

“I’m not as interested in what they did in the past as I am with what they want to do now,” he said.